The progressive reduction in feature size in integrated circuits (ICs) is driven in part by advances in lithography. ICs may be created by alternately etching material away from a chip and depositing material on the chip. Each layer of materials etched from the chip may be defined by a lithographic process in which light shines through a mask, exposing a photosensitive material, e.g., a photoresist.
The ability to focus the light used in lithography, and hence to produce increasingly smaller line widths in ICs, may depend on the wavelength of light used. Current techniques may use light having a wavelength of about 193 nm. The use of “soft” x-rays (wavelength range of λ≈10 to 20 nm) in lithography is being explored to achieve smaller desired feature sizes. Soft x-ray radiation may also be referred to as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation.